Spain tax return 2026: what changes in the return you file in 2027

What you will declare in 2027

The return you file in spring 2027 covers what you earned in 2026: it is the "Renta 2026". Almost all of its rules are already in the Official State Gazette (BOE); only the campaign dates are still unknown.

The minimum wage deduction rises to €590.89

The change with the biggest effect on low salaries is the employment income deduction (additional provision 61 of the Income Tax Act). It was created for 2025 by Law 5/2025, and Royal Decree-law 5/2026 of 17 February extended it for 2026 in line with the new minimum wage (SMI), set at €1,221 a month in 14 payments (€17,094 a year) by Royal Decree 126/2026.

There are three conditions. The income must come from an employment or civil-service relationship. Your other non-exempt income cannot exceed €6,500 a year. And the deduction cannot exceed the income tax due on that salary: if the tax is lower, the deduction is capped at the tax and the rest is lost, because it is not refundable.

Regional scales: the Valencian Community and Extremadura change

According to the Finance Ministry report "Tributación autonómica. Medidas 2026" (updated in September 2026), only two common-regime regions have changed their scale for 2026. Both did so mid-year, with effect from 1 January:

• Valencian Community (Law 5/2026 of 31 July): all eleven rates go down. The first falls from 9% to 8.8% and the top one from 29.5% to 29.35%. The same law already approves another cut for 2027, with rates from 8.7% to 29.25%.
• Extremadura (Law 2/2026 of 3 August, regional budget): the first two brackets fall from 8% to 7.75% and from 10% to 9.75%.

What this means in euros for a single employee with no children:

In Extremadura the saving is capped: from a taxable base of €20,200 everyone saves the same €36.62. One detail matters: payroll withholding is calculated with a single scale for the whole of Spain (article 101 of the Income Tax Act), so these cuts do not show in your monthly pay, only when you file the return. All other regions keep their 2025 scale.

What does not change

The state scale has been the same since 2021: 9.5% up to €12,450, 12% up to €20,200, 15% up to €35,200, 18.5% up to €60,000, 22.5% up to €300,000 and 24.5% above. The €5,550 personal allowance, the €2,000 of "other expenses" deductible from employment income and the employment income reduction of article 20, as worded by Royal Decree-law 4/2024, also stay: €7,302 if your net employment income (gross minus contributions) is no more than €14,852, tapering to zero at €19,747.50.

Contributions: 6.50% with the MEI at 0.15%

Contributions are deducted from the income tax base. In 2026, under Order PJC/297/2026, an employee on a permanent contract pays 6.50%: 4.70% for common contingencies, 1.55% for unemployment, 0.10% for vocational training and 0.15% for the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI). On a fixed-term contract unemployment is 1.60% and the total 6.55%. The MEI rises every year under the General Social Security Act: the employee share was 0.13% in 2025 and will be 0.17% in 2027.

The maximum contribution base is €5,101.20 a month (€61,214.40 a year). Above it, employees pay the additional solidarity contribution, which in 2026 costs between 0.19% and 0.24% of the excess.

Pension plans: same limits

Pension plan contributions reduce the taxable base within the limits of articles 51 and 52 of the Income Tax Act, unchanged since 2023: €1,500 a year for your own contributions, which can rise by €8,500 with employer contributions to an occupational plan plus your own contributions to that same plan within certain caps (up to €10,000 in total), or by €4,250 for the self-employed in sector or simplified occupational plans. The reduction can never exceed 30% of your net employment and business income.

Deductions still available in 2026

• Electric car: 15% of the price, on a maximum base of €20,000, for purchases up to 31 December 2026.
• Home energy efficiency: 20% or 40% of works paid up to 31 December 2026, and 60% for building works until 2027, with an energy certificate before and after.
• Self-consumption (new): Royal Decree-law 7/2026 adds a 10% deduction for installing solar panels or another renewable system in a property you own, and 20% if the installation is in a residential building. The maximum base is €5,000 and the installation must be completed in 2026, with the electrical installation certificate.

Do you have to file?

The thresholds in article 96 of the Income Tax Act do not change. You do not have to file if your only income is:

• Employment income of up to €22,000 from a single payer.
• Employment income of up to €15,876 if you have several payers and the second and later ones add up to more than €1,500, if you receive non-exempt spousal or child maintenance, or if your payer is not required to withhold tax.
• Interest, dividends and gains with tax withheld of up to €1,600, and imputed property income or Treasury bill income of up to €1,000.

On the other hand, the self-employed registered with RETA at any point in the year, recipients of the minimum living income (IMV) and anyone who wants to apply the pension plan reduction or the international double taxation deduction must always file. Even if you are not obliged, if too much tax was withheld, filing is the only way to get it back.

When the campaign will be

The dates have not been announced yet: they are set each year by the order approving the return forms. For reference, the 2025 campaign opened on 8 April 2026 and closed on 30 June, with direct debit payments until 25 June, and the campaign usually follows that April to June pattern. The Tax Agency (AEAT) will confirm the 2027 dates.